Give me all your money, all your friends and family too

The Secret to attaining client referrals

Let’s face it a good majority of you rely on referrals to build your personal training business. Why? because it’s easier then marketing, networking and schlepping to do the work yourself. But what happens when the referrals start to slow down or even worse, dry up? You find yourself in a pickle because you haven’t done the marketing, networking and schlepping required to build your business and continue to keep the flow of new blood circulating through your practice.

You can put an end to this problem by learning how to obtain more referrals. Before you moan and groan about how you don’t like to pester your clients for business let me assure you that after you read further you will feel better about the process of building referrals.

Here are my top five classified and confidential secrets to creating a system to get a hold of more referrals. Do each one of these and track your results. You will be amazed at the difference it’s going to make to help you grow your personal training business.

And action! – Talk to the camera

Have your clients provide a video testimonial and talk about the changes and results they’ve achieved since working with you. Your clients will have no choice but to think of your services in a positive way. They will be flattered that you want their feedback and would be willing to put it on your website for everyone to see. They can link their Facebook page to the video and let all of their friends watch the testimonial. It gives them an opportunity to express how training has made a significant impact in their lives.

Kill them with customer kindness

Create a killer customer service plan where you acknowledge and reward your client for successes they have achieved. Go out of your way to create magical memorable moments and experiences for your clients and they will be sure to tell the story to all their friends and family. Do everything in your power to make doing business with you easy. I always think about what more could I do for my clients and this keeps me on my toes.

Show me the “results”

The best way to get referrals is to help your clients achieve results. When people notice how their bodies are changing or their health is improving they are sure to ask questions about it. Your clients are your walking billboards and if they are singing your praises then people will take notice.

Richard Simons it up! – make training exciting

I hope you know or remember who Richard Simons is. If you do then you will know he was over the top crazy about fitness and getting people to sweat to the oldies. He had such enthusiasm and passion for what he did that it was impossible not to be infected by it. Make training with you just as crazy, zany and wacky and watch your clients start to have fun. If you can get people laughing you have a seriously powerful recipe for referrals. Imagine your client talking to a friend at coffee about how they laughed so hard during their workout that their abdominals hurt. I’m sure the friend would be interested in learning more about what happened.

I can’t live without you

Getting your clients to think about you and your services as the best thing since the ipod will guarantee referrals. Have you ever had a hairdresser that made you look awesome every time you went to see them? You would be devastated if you had to find another hairdresser. Now I’m not saying make your client dependent on your service. What I am suggesting is that you keep your sessions fresh, interactive, educational, results oriented and fun so that they will tell others how they can’t imagine not coming to see you.

The bottom line is you are trying to get your clients to do the marketing, networking and schlepping on your behalf by telling others about the experience they are having with you. When your clients achieve positive results and have fun doing it you create a great experience which they can’t wait to tell other people about.  Do this correctly and your clients will give you all their money, and send all their friends and family to you.